This section provides background information related to the present disclosure, which is not necessarily prior art.
To prepare a bone to receive an implant, the bone is often cut using a cut block. A cut block guide or positioning jig can be used to set the proper position of the cut block. The cut block guide can be custom designed to fit a particular patient's bone, and to set the position of the cut block based on the patient's specific anatomy. Such custom cut block guides are often based on timely and costly imaging modalities, such as CT and MRI imaging. For example, the CT and/or MRI image data is often analyzed by a physician and sent to a manufacturer, which makes the cut block guide and ships it to a physician or hospital for use during surgery. This process is costly and time consuming. A cut block guide that can be customized to fit a particular patient and guide a cutting instrument to the patient's bone to prepare the bone to accommodate the patient's particular anatomy would thus be desirable. A cut block guide that eliminates the need for an intramedullary rod would also be desirable.